Resorting to Violence
by Piper Emerald
Summary: Wether he's tending to an injured and far too stubborn king, or stumbling into an argument between equally stubborn princes, Bilbo's new life in the Lonely Mountain is exhausting! When Fili and Kili get themselves into a brawl Bilbo learns something about the three heirs of Durin that he hadn't known before. (I own nothing) Light Bagginsheild, little Fili and Kili flashback, fixit.


Bilbo was exhausted, but he was determined not to show this until he was in the privacy of his quarters. It had barely been a month since the battle and he had been busy doing all that he could to help restore Erebor to the splendor that it once was. Now that most of the dwarves from the Blue Mountains had arrived there shouldn't have been much work for the hobbit, and, since he did not know much about dwarven kingdoms he had no qualms with stepping back. In fact, Bilbo had been looking forward to spending the day in the library that Ori had been organizing. He had hoped that he would have time to look over the old maps that heard had been untouched by the wrath of Smaug. Unfortunately ad relaxing day of reading was the exact opposite of what Bilbo had received.

Since most of his subjects had arrived, Thorin was anxious to begin his duties as king, even though he had been told numerous times how unwise it would be for him to leave his bed until his injures had properly healed. Bilbo had learned a long time ago how stubborn Thorin Oakenshield could be, and he did not need the reminder that day had served as. On his way to the library Bilbo had decided to stop by Thorin's room to see if the dwarf needed anything.

Since the events with the Arkenstone before the battle, Bilbo and Thorin's friendship had been more than a little bit tense. Neither of them had exchanged apologies, instead they both had seemed to settle into a silent forgiveness. Even if the two had discussed what happened Bilbo knew that it would take more than words to mend what had been said and done.

In truth he was afraid to being the subject up, as if the mention of it would send Thorin back into the gold sickness that was far behind him now. Bilbo had decided to simply pretend that none of it had happened and there was nothing threatening their friendship or making it awkward. This was one of the reasons why Bilbo had made a point to check on how Thorin was doing at least once a day.

This morning it seemed that he had entered at the perfect moments, for he was right on time to watch Thorin attempt to get out of bed for the first time in one month and fall flat on his face. After making sure that Thorin was alright and getting him back onto the bed Bilbo had begun the first in a series of lectures that would carryout through the rest of the day. In these speeches Bilbo had reminded Thorin why it was important for him to rest and berated him for thinking that he could rush such a crucial thing as healing. Since he did not trust to dwarf to heed a single word of his, Bilbo had spent the rest of the day taking care of Thorin and forcing him not to move.

This may not sound like an arduous task, but by the end of the day Bilbo was exhausted. However he did not want Thorin to see this, so he kept up his energetic facade until he left Thorin's company for the night. Upon leaving Bilbo slipped into a neutral energy, not keen on showing how weary he was to passers by but not feeling the need to project stamina. It was as Bilbo was making his way back to his room that two familiar faces stormed in his direction (although neither of them seemed to notice him).

"I already told you that I do not care," Fili was telling his brother, his voice laced with irritation. "You can do whatever you want to and I am not going to try to correct you. I decided to leave that to Uncle and Mother. But just because I'm alright with it does not mean that I want to hear about it."

"I know that you are not alright with it," Kili argued, having to jog to keep up with Fili furious march. "If you were you would not act this way every time I mentioned her name."

"Kili, if you say that I am overreacting-"

"You are!" At this point they had stopped walking and Bilbo feared that they might actually start hitting each other. It was rare for him to see Fili and Kili argue on a serious scale, but he knew that when they did it rarely resulted positively. The fact that the both of them were also still recovering from several battle wounds was what motivated Bilbo to interrupt this conversation.

"Is everything alright?" He asked the two, unsure of what else to say.

"Bilbo," Kili smiled pleasantly when he noticed the hobbit.

"Everything is wonderful," Fili remarked, wearing an equally cheery smile.

This was not comforting.

"Fili was just pretending not to disapprove of me," Kili told Bilbo.

"And Kili was just telling me that me being uncomfortable by the fact that he is courting and elf is an overreaction," Fili added.

So that was what this was about.

"What do you think, Master Baggins?" Kili asked, his calm facade slowly slipping.

"I think that this is a private matter," Bilbo stated uncomfortably.

"But you're practically part of the family," Fili dismissed Bilbo's attempt to stay out of the fight.

"I suppose that it is Kili's decision," Bilbo answered.

"I never said that it wasn't," Fili said.

"You didn't have to speak it for me to get the message," Kili said flatly to his brother.

"What do you want me to say?" Fili groaned. "Because I am not going to lie to you and say that I'm happy that you are courting a she-elf. I think that you are once again being close minded a stupid."

"I am being close minded?" Kili laughed.

"I am done with this conversation," Fili announced. He then turned to Bilbo and gave him a nod before storming off.

"Give him time," Bilbo told Kili who looked like he hadn't figured out if he was angry or sad.

"Him, and Uncle, and mother, and everyone," Kili muttered. He then tried to muster a gleeful face. "Speaking of Uncle, how is he?"

"Stubborn as usual," Bilbo answered automatically. "Wait, why are you asking me?"

"Did you not spend the entire day with him?" Kili asked with a sly smile.

"Yes," Bilbo admitted. "Who told you that?"

"Nothing remains private within the company anymore," Kili said simply. "Goodnight, Bilbo."

With that the dwarf prince walked away, leaving Bilbo to rediscover how much he yearend for sleep. Goodnight indeed.

Despite how draining it had been for Bilbo to spend the previous day attending to Throin's every need, his found himself walking to the dwarf's chamber again that next morning. Bilbo knew that someone would have to look after the stubborn dwarf king, so, since Bilbo didn't have anything better to do and since he liked to think Thorin enjoyed his company, Bilbo mentally volunteered to be Thorin's new care taker. Although he would probably not refer to himself as this in front of Thorin.

To Bilbo's surprise when he arrived Thorin was not alone. There were two chairs pulled near the bed were Fili and Kili were sitting. There mother, Dis, was standing behind them with a very unamused look on her face. Balin was also present, he stood near the doorway that Bilbo had just walked through.

"Bilbo's here," Kili announced. "Now the official meeting to discuss the delinquency of Fili and I can begin."

Fili rolled his eyes but did not comment on his brother's statement. Dis seemed to be contemplating how much brain damage it would cause her son if she smacked him on the head. Thorin, who was sitting propped up on his bed by pillow, was mostly likely longing that he had the ability to smack Kili in the first place.

"What is going on?" Bilbo asked Balin who was by far the least angry of all of the dwarves in the room.

"I can tell you what happened, Master Baggins," Dis said from across the room. "My two foolish sons, who are not nearly healed, decided that it would be a wonderful idea to pick a fight with a group of much stronger and healthier dwarves."

"They're only stronger because we're still weak from the battle," Kili protested. "Other wise we would have destroyed them."

"You are lucky that they had the decently not to 'destroy' you," Dis snapped back. "How many times do I have to explain to you why you do not pick fights when you are injured?"

"Not to mention the situation they put those poor wretches," Balin remarked to Bilbo. "Fighting a wounded warrior is bad enough as it is, but when you consider the fact that these two are the heirs to Erebor..."

"It was my fault, not Kili's," Fili confessed, speaking for the first time. "I was arguing with one of the joltheads, Kili and I knew them from before the journey and they have yet to accept the respect that they are expected to show the heirs of the king."

"So you hit one of them?" Bilbo asked.

"I threw the first blow," Fili admitted. "Kili only joined the fight when he saw that I was out numbered."

Dis seemed like she was about the launch herself into a rant that would most likely follow with her cuffing at least Fili, but Thorin spoke before she could.

"No serious harm was done to anyone," he said. "And there are more important tasks that all of us should being doing right now-yes, Bilbo I see you glaring at me, and no I unfortunately will not be spending my day doing such tasks."

"So we're dismissed then?" Kili asked.

Thorin did not answer Kili, but Dis was already dragging him out of the room by his shirt collar. Balin followed them, but Fili did not move from the chair that he was seated on.

"Close the door, Bilbo." Once Bilbo complied to Thorin's command he watch Thorin turn to his nephew. "What actually happened?"

"They said that Kili was a disgrace to the line of Durin, and is not fit to call himself a dwarf." Fili did not make eye contact with his uncle as he spoke. "I did not resort to violence immediately, believe it or not I have listened to most of my mother's speeches. First I told them to hold their tongues, and when they did not I saw no other way to ensure that they would be quiet."

Thorin nodded grimly.

"The rest of the story happened as I said it did," Fili went on. "Kili does not even know what we were fighting about."

"Are you going to tell him?" Bilbo asked, still hovering by the door.

Fili shook his head.

"You can leave now, Fili," Thorin told his nephew.

"This is staying between us?" Fili asked Thorin. Bilbo felt like a fly on the wall.

"As always," Thorin assured his nephew. Fili gave Bilbo a tired smile before he left the room. Bilbo walked to the chair that Fili had just left.

"Well then," Bilbo's thoughts were still on the two conversations that he had just heard.

"Fili has never tolerated anyone insulting Kili," Thorin explained. "Although, as they get older, the fighting is becoming more of a nuisance."

"So this happens often?" Bilbo asked and Thorin chuckled.

"You should have seen them as children."

 _Seeing his youngest nephew come home in tears was becoming a regular occurrence for Thorin. Given the recent death of the child's father Thorin and Dis had expected nothing less from him. Normally Dis would be the one to comfort her son, but Thorin was not an entirely bad uncle and had quickly learned how to handle the situation. So, when Kili walked through the door sniffing back sobs, Thorin knew exactly what to say...until Fili walked him after him with a bruise coloring his right eye and several tears in his clothes._

 _Thorin was at a loss for words._

 _Kili walked past his uncle, murmuring something about going to take a nap. Both Thorin and Fili knew that Kili was not the least bit tired, he merely wanted to sulk in privacy. Fili made to follow his brother, most likely to cheer him away from his sorrows, but Thorin held out an arm to stop him._

 _Fili looked at his uncle with some surprise, he must have been thinking that he could get past Thorin in his tattered appearance without being questioned. Thorin did not verbally ask what had happened, he merely raised an eyebrow. At first Fili seemed like he wasn't going to answer, but he was not old enough to know the methods of enduring Thorin's uncomfortable stare._

 _"_ _It was not my fault," Fili finally spoke._

 _"_ _Do you mean that you were attacked?" The very thought of this made Thorin bristle with anger, but Fili shook his head, making a face at Thorin's wording._

 _"_ _Maybe I started the hitting part," Fili muttered, then added darkly: "But he deserved it."_

 _"_ _Who did you fight?" Thorin could just imagine the look that would play on Dis'd face if she was confronted by the angry parent of the boy that Fili had decided he needed to pound. He could also imagine the defensive side that Dis would take in front of anyone outside of the family, and he would rather not have to listen to the vile things that could come out of his younger sister's mouth._

 _"_ _I don't even know the lout's name," Fili remarked. Apparently he was dead set on giving short answers, but Thorin knew that there was more of a story._

 _"_ _And why would you decide to fight this stranger?" Thorin asked through gritted teeth._

 _Fili sighed, glancing in the direction that his brother had disappeared in as if he expected him to be listening at the door._

 _"_ _He was poking fun at Kili," he explained. "He said that if Kili was a real dwarf he would have started growing his beard last year. Everyone Kili's age has some facial hair."_

 _This was a topic that Thorin had wondered about, but he had always marked Kili off as a late bloomer._

 _"_ _Did you win?" Thorin couldn't help but ask._

 _"_ _I would have," Fili let a smirk creep onto his face. "However his friend's arrived to help him a few blows in, and Kili and I thought that it would be wiser to run."_

 _Thorin patted Fili on the shoulder, and pretended not to notice Fili's poorly concealed wince. He knew that the boys preferred their mother to coddle them when they were injured and Thorin to act as if it was not a big deal._

 _"_ _Go check on your brother." He told Fili, who looked like he was about to leave before a thought struck him and he asked: "Are you going to tell Mother?"_

 _"_ _Would you prefer her not to know?" Thorin asked and Fili nodded. Thorin then looked over Fili once more before suggesting: "I will tell her that another boy challenged you and you were only defending yourself."_

 _"_ _Thank you, Uncle."_

"Dis knows now, though?" Bilbo asked when Thorin had finished his tale.

"Only if one of the boys told her," Thorin replied. "And if I explained to her that one event I would most likely have to inform her off all the fights Fili and I kept secret from her. She knows of most of Kili's, however. He's not as natural of a liar."

"I see," Bilbo took in this information.

Thorin seemed in good spirits now. Although he doubted he would confess this to anyone, Bilbo found the dwarf's pride in his nephew's protective nature rather endearing. Endearing? Where had that word come from?

"Kili still hasn't..." Bilbo fumbled for the right words. He needed to ask something to get Thorin to fill the silence and distract him from words like 'endearing.' "He hasn't...you know-"

"Kili has not yet grown a beard," Thorin chuckled. "Although it is not as sensitive a subject as it once was."

"That's good, I suppose," Bilbo wasn't sure what else to say. He expected Thorin to add something or change the subject, but the dwarf didn't speak for what felt like a minute.

"Bilbo," when Thorin did break the silence his voice was softer and nothing at all like the humored tone it had been in the moment before.

"Yes?" Bilbo let his voice remain light. His eyes met Thorin's, who looked away after a second.

"Bilbo," he repeated, then grimaced.

"What's wrong?" Bilbo asked, reacting to the expression that had played across the dwarf's face. He immediately assumed that Thorin's wounds were bothering him, and doubted that they had been checked that morning. "Are you in pain?"

"No," Thorin said quickly. "I'm alright."

"Then what is it?"

"You remember what I said to you, before the battle, what I tried to do," Thorin didn't phrase any of this as a question, but Bilbo was compelled to answer anyway.

"It's not exactly something one forgets easily," Bilbo said honestly.

"Yes." A shadow passed over Thorin's face. "I know that I have no right to ask this of you, but could you possibly forgive me?"

Bilbo had been dreading this conversation, because for the past month he had believed that Thorin was still secretly upset with him. He had feared that one day Thorin would turn to him and inform him that he had meant every word he said that day. Now Bilbo wanted to chide himself for having such little faith in his friend. Unfortunately it had taken a moment for Bilbo to sort through these thoughts, and Thorin must have read his silence as uncertainty.

"I'm begging you," Thorin went on. "If there is anything that I can do to make things right, please just say the word and I will-"

"Thorin," Bilbo cut in loudly before Thorin could add more to his rather desperate sounding plea. "You had gold sickness. Do you honestly believe that I would hold you accountable for anything that you did or said?"

"You should," Thorin seemed to be searching Bilbo's face for the slightest sign of doubt. After finding none, Thorin looked as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He fondly remarked: "But you have always been far too trusting for your own good."

"And you are not trusting enough," Bilbo countered.

"I trust you," Thorin said. "For me that is enough."

"I trust you too." Bilbo wanted to move closer to the bed and take Thorin's hand in his. However, before he could move the door to the room flew open, startling both of them.

"Uncle you didn't lecture Fili about the fight, did you?" Kili asked as he rushed into the chamber. "I am sure he had a perfectly good reason for wanting to kill those clot-poles!"

All Bilbo could do was laugh.


End file.
